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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Older womenfolk said, "Honey-child, don't believe a word he says! He'll sing a sweet song, tell you how pretty you are, just to get what he wants. Then, he'll drop you as quick as a hot sweet potato. Be careful!" Luckily, these words did not apply to all males.

Whole days were spent with one teacher - not only academics, but also art, recess, music, lunch and after school, if necessary. The teacher was responsible for what was taught in the classroom, as well as contributing to personality development and table manners.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The weather was warm and hours were spent out-of-doors roller skating, playing hopscotch, softball and kick-the-can. When middle-of-the-day heat arrived, board games and cards were played in the shade of a tree or taken indoors to seek relief provided by the attic fan.

Sitting under the hairdryer for an hour or more was difficult. Bobby pins were used to curl hair, then clippies, small pink sponge rollers, large wire & brush rollers, and then VERY LARGE rollers - even cardboard toilet tissue rolls. In between the once a week visit to the beauty shop, girls would roll their hair every night and somehow manage to sleep!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Slumber parties were most popular during fourth through eighth grades. Girls spent the evening calling boys, sharing hilarious comments with them and quickly hanging up. Fortunately, caller ID did not exist.

Girls spent a considerable amount of time talking about boys. Boys, however, had other interests than girls: #1 sports, #2 cars, #3 girls. Sometimes an older female would appear and persuade them to change their order of preference.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Several hurricanes occurred during the Fifties, creating high winds, flooding and damage to homes and businesses. Hurricanes did not instill a great amount of fear for everyone though, since warnings were issued that provided ample time to prepare. Our little house was very lucky to continually be spared.

There was a definite division of labor - the wife stayed at home, while the husband left to go to the office. Even though he worked to support his family, sometimes there were distractions. Society looked the other way when extramarital affairs were committed by a male, but not the female. This remains somewhat true today.